The World Concept
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[edit] The World:
The world concept is both simple, and complex. On opening day, the world will be a vast landscape. It will have plains, deserts, Marshes, and groves. It will have forests, and caves. It will have every type of landscape imaginable. However, what will set it apart from most games right from the start, is that there will only be three or four SMALL NPC run villages
The starting NPC villages will each contain a healer, a basic arms merchant, and a basic tools merchant. What they sell will be the most meager items possible, as their sole purpose is to allow starting characters to outfit themselves for their first few levels.
In order to gain access to improved equipment, they will have to learn to make the equipment themselves, or purchase it from either another PC, or from an NPC merchant in a PC city.
The world will have access to magic as well as physical weapons and attacks. Magic will draw on the power of mana. Mana is the energy that flows through all things. It is the essence of creation.
Every being has a certain amount of mana flowing through their beings, but this small amount is rarely enough to do anything of real merit. However, this small amount is enough for some people to be able to feel the ebb and flow of mana through out creation. It is this simple yet rare connection that makes the difference between a normal person and the greatest of mages.
One of the most important concepts in the game, is that of land ownership. In the beginning, when players are few, and the land is empty Those who wish to claim land, will simply need to set their markers, and the land is theirs. However, this does not mean that the claim will go uncontested. While a marker lays claim to a place, structures must be built to ensure that it is not easily lost.
When someone is traveling, they will be able to easily tell if they are on someone else's land, however there will be times when they will choose to stake a claim of their own even on that land. As such, one may need to take measures to protect their rights to the land that they want. Even once a building is built, it is possible that it may be destroyed, or if not maintained, simply decay. Proper maintenance of a building will not simply be a matter of money, as it is in most games, but instead damage will need to be repaired using the appropriate skills. If an NPC has taken up residence in a building, and they are skilled in repairing that type of structure, then they may take care of repairs for the player.
Not all NPC's will have all skill, nor will all players. It will be important to specialize in one direction or another, especially at lower levels. As such, players will be encouraged to cooperate with each other. To this end, the owner of a plot of land may choose to transfer ownership of a small section of that land to another player, or perhaps even an NPC. This can be a plot of empty land to be developed, or it can be a building or other structure.
Different structures are built in different ways, and one may take longer to build than another. Some may take a matter of minutes real world time, others may take literally days, while the materials and labor needed are carried in. Stone houses will be made of stone and wood houses of wood. The appropriate skills of carpentry, masonry, or whatever else is needed will need to be used in its construction. The owner may choose to give others permission to help build the structure to speed things along, and to share skills.
A basic one or two bedroom house will be able to be completed fairly quickly, while a mansion or a castle, may take quite a while. If a structure meets certain requirements, it may be designated as a specific type of structure. Otherwise it is assumed to be either a house, or just a generic building. Specific types of structures will be important for the purpose of attracting NPC's into the village or city. A church dedicated to a specific deity may be able to attract an NPC cleric, or even a PC cleric of that deity to dwell in that city. A smithy could attract a weapons smith.
Another idea that I have considered concerning NPC's, is that when most NPC's first come to a village, or are "born" they will be standard "generic" NPC's. They will then later choose professions.
Their chosen profession will be greatly influenced by the available buildings, and perhaps even the behavior or encouragement of PC's who travel through their city. Common professions would include Inn Keeper, Farmer, beggar, or city guard. Less common would be things such as Arms merchant, or priest. Also, priest NPC's will have other restrictions on their numbers that will be explained at a later point in the documentation.
Religion is another interesting aspect of the proposed world. Starting out, there will be a small number of "generic" deities. These deities will be NPC's in the sense that they will be computer controlled, but odds are, that character's will never interact with them directly. As time moves on, a very small number of Player Characters will be able to ascend to god-hood through various difficult quests and tasks. These tasks will be set out so that it will be hard for any but the most serious players to complete them. However, just to be on the safe side, there will be a cap on the number of deities actually allowed. In this way we assure that we don't simply have a thousand munchkins running about the world reeking havoc on a grand scale.
Also, most resources will not be infinite. A player will not be able to take all the lumber from an area, then expect to be able to do the same again a few minutes later, simply because the computer decided a "day" had passed. Instead If trees are left, then they will continue to produce more. If a place is clean cut, then the Player, or an NPC will have to re-plant the area, so that more trees will grow. The same goes for other wild plant resources. Another possibility is that a player or an NPC could till a plot, and plant vegetables or fruits on that land.
The proposed world will also have weather. The weather patterns from one region to the next may vary as they do in the real world, and affect each other. A warm front that is moving east will generally bring soft rains that will water plants, and have minimal effect on most houses. However, a hail storm may be of danger to players and their buildings.
Weather patterns and their effects will vary from region to region. A rain storm that moves into a desert will start to dissipate quickly, but will cause more damage while it lasts than it would in a plains or forested area.
Monsters will also vary from region to region. Though it may be possibly to redirect them to other areas, either intentionally using specific skills, or unintentionally, because of fences.
More will be added later. :-) But for now, this is a lot of information.
[edit] Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Lexicon
- Concept Page
- Project Status
- Associated Projects
- The Back Story
- The Pantheon
- The TODO List
